The Irish standard., 1887-03-05
A Cathedral for Cloyber.

Most Rev. DR.. Donnelly, bishop of
Clogher, and one of the lights of the
Irish hierarchy, has sent forth this very
eloquent appeal: "Fellow- Catholics Of
the Irish Race For three dreary cen
turies has this old Catholic diocese
(Clogher) been without it's cathedral
since the Gay when the mother church
of Clogher WAS seized by the stranger
and consigned to his foreign worship
That alien institution, SO long p.opped
up by British Law and bayonets, has
been laid in the dust. disestablished
and disendoWed; but our churches have
not been restored to us. The dome OF
st. Macartin and St. Tigernach is still
held fast in the grip Of the spoiler, and
we are left in loneliness and desolation.
Is 1t not time this state Of things
should end. and that, after suitable
churches have been built once more for
Catholic worship throughout our sew
eral parishes, cathedral should be
erected to cap the ecclesiastical edifices
of Clogher, and put an end TO the days
OF her widowhood :? The task we
have undertaken is a heavy one, and
has sorely taxed our slender means.
We have no rich people amongst our
flock. We belong to Ulster, that prov
ince which has suffered most cruelty of
all, because mere the last and fiercest
struggle was made for faith and ma
tional independence. Our diocese stands
nearly altogether within the territory
affected by the plantation of Ulster. Its
broad lands were parcelled out by
James I. among Scotch and English ad-
venturers, to beggar and displace our
forefathers in revenge for the stand
they had made against the power and
the heresy of England. Two thirds of the
people are still Catholic; but these are
the poorest and most dependent. For
twenty years and more have we been
toiling at the erection of our cathedral.
Annually, and some years more than
once, we have made a call upon every
parish in the diocese, until the resour-
ces Of our clergy aud people are we'll
nigh exhausted. Much still remains to
be done before the work is completed,
whilst the condition Of our people has
changed greatly for the worse since the
building was commenced In these cir
cumstances we have been strongly en-
couraged by clerical and lay friends in
America to make an appeal to our
brethren beyond the wave, and with
this view we have deputed two of our
most esteemed priests, the Rev. Eugene
McKenna. G. c., Enniskillen, and the
Rev. Eugene Mcmahon. G. c., Carrick-
macross, to visit some of the principal
centres of Catholicity there. May we
trust that these reverend gentlemen
will be received in a kindly spirit, espe-
cially by our brethren Of the Irish race,
and our own many friends and &C
quaintances among you? To you, dis
persed children of Clogher, from the
counties of Monagban, Fermanagh,
Tyrone, Donegal and Louth, and to
your offspring, we particularly address
ourselves. We know that many calls
are made on you for the needs of re-
ligion and charity in the land Of your
and we trust you respond to
these with generosity pro portioned to
their means, and as worthy children of
your:sires; but fondly hope you may
still have something to- offer the success
sor Of fsSt.sMacartan, when he appeals
to you, for the first time, from amid the
graves Of your fathers, for some help to
enable him to complete cathedral
worthy of the name and fame Of this
ancient seer 49, e s1sSsi s'5s'Aa ..-t.
The bill for term of the United
- Z.